Free solo and free solar - with Alex Honnold

Episode 83 of Cleaning Up with Michael Liebreich - Alex Honnold "Free Solar" - was such an extraordinary conversation. I would strongly encourage you to watch it, it raises so many vital issues, way beyond climbing, solar power, climate and the environment.

One of the topics Alex and I dived deeply into in was risk, something he has thought deeply about (for obvious reasons!). Listen up...

TLDR: Alex does what he does by drawing a crystal clear distinction between "risk" - which he defines as the probability of him falling while free soloing and which he sees as negligibly small - and "consequence" - the certainty of death if he does fall.

Then we added the time dimension, which is so important for climate risk: the difference between Johan Rockstr?m's (Cleaning Up Episode 49)'s decades of Commitment Time and centuries of Impact Time. Alex distinguishes between climate angst and physical fear.

He really is an expert on different types of fear. He sees climate anxiety as similar to existential angst: "Oh, I just don't know if I can live like this, but that's still different than the immediacy of about to be hit by a car." He believes this explains why the world is not acting as fast as it should on climate change.

Alex's response to the need for personal action was to create the Honnold Foundation, supporting solar projects. He is waaaaaaay too modest about what it is achieving, describing it as an "tiny little grain of sand in the giant beach of human activity."

What is particularly impressive about the work of the Honnold Foundation is how it seeks out projects that are not just good for the environment and climate, but also good for local communities, helping pull them out of poverty. Impressive stuff.

We took a fascinating detour into Alex's core philosophy. He's deeply committed to helping people and planet, but why, since he's not at all religious? Like all good enlightenment, it began in the desert (on a climbing expedition in Chad), but it's all about fairness.

The motivation behind Alex and his work with the Honnold Foundation is deeply humanistic and it's really admirable. It's not just about the carbon credits!

Alex and the Honnold Foundation also do projects in the US - not just in the developing world - often for tribal communities that still completely lack electricity. "It's a legacy of racism and mismanagement. It is insane: full off-grid, then you can drive 15 minutes and be in some suburban town with a McDonalds and stuff."

The Honnold Foundation is just growing from $1m/year to $2m/year in annual projects funded, but the platform Alex has built could handle much more. Here's his pitch to wealthy donors like Bezos Earth Fund. I must say, I find it compelling.

If you want to donate to the Honnold Foundation I am sure Alex and his team would be thrilled (not just Jeff Bezos, anyone!). You can find out more and donate online here:

And I strongly urge you to listen to or watch the whole episode. It's not really about climbing, solar power or climate change, it's about what it is to be human, to do your thing to the best of your ability, and then to give something back to the world.

Listen or watch now Cleaning up with Michael Liebreich and Alex Honnold.